The country will get it's 15th Prime Minister today. Mr. Narendra Modi, who led BJP to an astounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections, will be sworn-in as the Prime Minister at a grand function in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan at 6 PM.
Nearly 4,000 guests are expected to attend the ceremony. Top leaders from SAARC countries, including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam will attend the ceremony.
This is the first time that the heads of state of SAARC nations have been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of an Indian Prime Minister.
President Pranab Mukherjee will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Modi and his council of Ministers in the presence of outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, besides leaders of various other parties and Chief Ministers of a number of states.
Ahead of being sworn-in, Mr. Modi paid homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi at his Samadhi in Rajghat this morning. He was accompanied by some BJP leaders, including Prakash Javdekar and Dr. Harshvardhan.
Elaborate arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the swearing-in ceremony of Mr. Narendra Modi. Our correspondent reports that traffic restrictions have been imposed to facilitate invitees to reach the venue.
All India Radio – Delhi will broadcast live the swearing-in ceremony from 5:55 PM on its Rajdhani channel today. The News Services Division of All India Radio will broadcast a special live bilingual discussion in Hindi and English on the formation of the new Council of Ministers before the swearing-in-ceremony from 5:30 PM to 5:55 PM, and also immediately after the live broadcast of the swearing-in-ceremony upto 7:35 PM.
All AIR Stations including local radio stations, FM Gold channels and FM Rainbow channels will relay the entire programme from 5:30 PM.
The News Services Division of will also broadcast a live bilingual phone-in programme in Hindi and English from 9:30 to 10 PM. It can be heard on Indraprastha, Rajdhani, FM Gold, FM Rainbow channels and additional frequencies.
Listeners can pose questions to the experts in our Studios on the issues before the new Government on telephone number: 011: 2331-4444. This programme will also be available on Doordarshan DTH.
Meanwhile, Mr. Modi has indicated major changes in ministry formation with the top layers downsized. A statement issued from Gujarat Bhawan last night said that Mr Modi is aiming at Smart Governance where the top layers of government will be downsized and there would be expansion at the grass-root level.
The statement said that focus will be on convergence in the activities of various ministries where one Cabinet minister will be heading a cluster of ministries working in complementary sectors so that idea of Minimum Government and Maximum Governance could be realized.
Hectic parleys continued at the Gujarat Bhawan in the national capital yesterday for government formation. Mr. Narendra Modi, BJP President Rajnath Singh, other senior leaders and RSS leaders remained busy discussing the possible list of council of ministers.
The names doing the rounds include Arun Jaitley for Finance, Rajnath Singh for Home, M. Venkaiah Naidu for Agriculture, Nitin Gadkari for an integrated Infrastructure Ministry, Piyush Goel for Commerce and Ravi Shankar Prasad for Law and Justice.
Arun Shourie is tipped for the post of Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. Senior leader Sushma Swaraj is likely to get External Affairs or Defence. Murli Manohar Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan or Karia Munda may be considered for the Speaker’s post.
Party patriarch LK Advani may take over as NDA chairperson.
Among the allies, Lok Jan Shakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan and Shiv Sena leader Ananth Geete are likely to be inducted into the Cabinet.
TDP Chief N. Chandrababu Naidu met Mr. Modi and apprised him of the views of his party.
